The Rally of Honour and modern day geopolitics

One of the lessons we must learn from the Nazi moment is that democracy is a good soil for the emergence of totalitarianism (popular support legitimizes authoritarian power). Hitler, nazi thinkers and those who backed them found an excellent occasion to come to power through using the need of the German people to regain their glory and honour. Even more, the promise of becoming a master and superior race surely caught the attention of many, while the threat of the 'Jewish race', real or not, is not much different from the threat posed by terrorists in our time.

The major difference is that Nazi Germany was heavy around race, so it needed a 'race enemy' (with no home country, but powerful enough to be credible) while America is 'land of the free', so it needs an enemy that opposes this freedom (formerly it was Communism). We must learn history so that we will not repeat the (intentional) mistakes. Perpetually condemning or victimizing a country or a race is just wrong. Evidently, things are not as simple as I made them appear, but one thing is clear, when people perceive a danger (real or not), they naturally unite in order to oppose that danger, and usually they partially give up on their own liberties. The same psychology also applies to objectives. After learning this, apply it to modern day events and politics and see where this leads you. What are our real enemies and what should be our objectives?

This image is from the 8th party Congress, known as the "Rally of Honour" because of the re-militarization of the Rhineland, and so, the restoration of German honor.

    Nazi Party rally at Zeppelinfeld, Nuremberg, Germany, 8 Sep 1936; the structure was designed by Albert Speer - German Federal Archive